Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

SCiFi Foods Reveals New Name, Raises $22M in Series A and Adds Former Impossible Foods Exec to Board

Food tech startup Artemys Foods announces it is re-branding its name and image to SCiFi Foods. The company also reveals a $22M Series A funding round and the appointment of Myra Pasek, a former executive at Tesla and Impossible Foods, to its advisory board. The startup’s previous backers include the British rock band Coldplay. 

“We’ve accomplished an extraordinary amount in just over two years”

SCiFi specializes in cultivating beef cells, but instead of focusing on the enormous challenge of scaling cultured meat for the mass market, the company instead combines cultivated beef with plant-based meat. This results in a product with significantly better taste than most plant-based meats, at a fraction of the cost of 100% cultivated meat production, the startup says. 

Located in the Bay Area, SCiFi states a name change was necessary to reflect greater transparency and honesty to consumers. “I believe it’s important to be open and authentic about what we’re doing, and our new name reflects exactly that. Consumers value transparency, and I would rather be bold than hide behind a bland, corporate moniker,” said Joshua March, SCiFi’s CEO and co-founder.

SCiFi Burger
©SCiFi Foods

Growing its board

SCiFi has also appointed Myra Pasek, who previously worked with leading innovators like Impossible Foods and Tesla, to its board of advisors. Pacek currently serves as general counsel at Iron Ox, a company using robotics and AI to improve the sustainability of agriculture. 

The Series A funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz of the firm a16z, who has also invested in iconic brands like Airbnb, Facebook, Lyft and Pinterest. The startup plans to use the funding to grow its R&D, develop new marketing strategies and hire new team members.  

SCiFi Foods
Company headquarters kitchen ©SCiFi Foods

“We’ve accomplished an extraordinary amount in just over two years and I’m immensely proud of the world-class team and platform we’ve built,” comments CTO and co-founder Kasia Gora, Ph.D. “Since last April, the pace of our R&D has truly been unprecedented and we have already achieved tremendous, groundbreaking results. We’re grateful to have such incredible investors like a16z and advisors like Myra on this journey with us.”




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